Social-psychological factors affecting help-seeking for emotional problems

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Adolescent Health
• Mental Health Services Research

Background:

• Help-seeking for emotional problems is influenced by demographic, network, and personality factors.
• Previous research focused on attitudes toward help-seeking, not actual help-seeking behavior.
• Understanding predictors of adolescent help-seeking is crucial for mental health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate predictors of general and professional help-seeking behavior in Australian adolescents experiencing emotional problems.
• To determine if demographic, network, and personality variables predict behavioral help-seeking outcomes.
• To compare predictors of seeking informal versus professional help.

Main Methods:

• A sample of Australian adolescents reporting emotional problems was surveyed.
• Data collected on demographic factors, social support, prior professional help contact, and personality traits.
• Statistical analyses were used to identify significant predictors of help-seeking behavior.

Main Results:

• General help-seeking was predicted by psychological distress, female gender, social support, prior professional help contact, private self-consciousness, and willingness to disclose.
• For adolescents with significant distress, only gender and willingness to disclose remained significant.
• Professional help-seeking was solely predicted by the level of psychological distress.

Conclusions:

• Psychological symptoms and gender are more relevant to adolescent help-seeking behavior than network or personality traits.
• While attitudes may be influenced by various factors, actual help-seeking behavior is more directly linked to distress levels and gender.
• Interventions should consider psychological distress and gender when promoting professional help-seeking among adolescents.